Abraham Lincoln's Role In The 13th Amendment

In 1861 Abraham Lincoln took office as the President of the United States and with it he inherited a nation at odds. While there are numerous issues that could be mentioned during this volatile time in America, the focus of this research is on the tensions surrounding slavery and the abolitionist movement and the role Lincoln played in the establishment of the 13th Amendment. At the time of Lincoln’s presidential appointment, America had already seen the secession of the Confederate States and was on the verge of all-out war (source?). What takes place during Lincoln’s presidency is well documented as is his role in the eventual abolishment of slavery; however, the purpose of this research is to determine Lincoln’s reasoning for implementing …show more content…
As previously mentioned, the introduction of the Nebraska Act propelled Lincoln to take a more aggressive stance on slavery. In a way, the Nebraska Act is what potentially placed Lincoln on the presidential trail. Perhaps Abraham Lincoln was of like mind with John Stuart Mill who said, “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing”. Lincoln had fought against slavery within Congress, he had made valid attempts to try and do what was right, but enough was enough. The nation was being led down a path that Lincoln did not agree with, by men more concerned with themselves than with those they were meant to serve. So in 1854, Lincoln jumped back into the political arena in hopes to stemming the pro-slavery tide (Oates, 1994, pp. …show more content…
As previously mentioned, Robert Browne stated that seven years prior to Lincoln taking office as President of the United States, he made statements that spoke of it being their duty to wait and hope that God would settle the slavery situation (Browne, 1901, p. 285). It is also a fact that the abolitionist movement was already well underway prior to Lincoln becoming president. All of the aforementioned information supporting the belief that Lincoln was working to restrict slavery could potentially be construed as the work of a man working to further a cause albeit mildly. It is the belief of this researcher that Abraham Lincoln was doing everything he could within the constraints of his position at the time. Yes, Lincoln was in favor of preventing the expansion of slavery into new American territories, but it would be shortsighted to believe that a man who considered slavery to be morally indefensible would not continue to work toward the eradication of the practice (Riddle, 1957, pp.